Um... actually, that patch of burnout I was speaking of was in regard to my archive; not the archive itself, or my personal collecting, but the difficulties resulting from creating it (the mountain of books, primarily).

I'm a slightly different breed of collector from this forum's regular crowd, I think. I try to keep the accumulation down to 30 board feet of just my favorites (and I fail ...but the effort is made). I could just be in the world's longest denial, but I think not... it does sound like it would be quite a burden (both in sheer mass and of responsibility) to own one of each thing, even if it were possible, so I operate in a very slow, perpetual upgrade mode. Perhaps I have a perspective in common with the aforementioned spouses because they are wives (as I am) rather than husbands-? Hm. Anyway, I also don't have the spousal burnout problem (so far). But, if you need an excuse for buying that book, try explaining that it's NOT a book, it's a very small piece of real estate; likely to appreciate in value at the same rate as your house, and you needn't pay taxes on it in the meantime. A wife might better understand this reasoning put in those terms... maybe.